The Stolen Mugic
by ashangel101010
Summary: Little Afjak just wanted to experiment with his late mother's Mugic, but Little Vlar won't let him and now Little Afjak has to do whatever Vlar says to get the Mugic back. Vlar X Afjak.


The Stolen Mugic

Suggested Themes:

Afjak- Nano Desu by Hanyuu, Part of Your World from The Little Mermaid

Vlar- She's Got You High by Mumm-Ra, Light My Fire by The Doors

Main Themes- Good Company from Oliver and Company, I Want a Mom That Will Last Forever by Cyndi Lauper

It was very early in Ancient Kiru City, most of the villagers were still sleeping and having dreams that one day their village will become haven of bountiful harvest and endless security. But for now, they have to make do with food from the forest and with Kiru and Najarin as their protectors until they can set up a formal army. Speaking of Najarin, his little son Afjak is wide awake while everyone else was asleep. Little Afjak likes to get up earlier than everyone else, so he can explore the forest without his father constantly hovering over him. His father **always** discouraged him from even setting foot in the forest without his supervision, he only gets to go there because it has firewood and creating Mugic requires fire hence the need for firewood. Yet, he only gets to explore only a few feet before his father calls him to get back home. Afjak wants to see **ALL** of the woods and, eventually, the rest of the world. How was a little boy of six supposed to explore the world, if he hasn't at least gone beyond the woods? Afjak started out easy, at first, going about a foot beyond his previous exploration every day. Within a month's time, Afjak reaches a lake of pure-blue water. It was such a perfect, serene place to be and to use as his base! He could hide all of his treasures from exploring the woods here, so now he won't have to worry about his father finding his treasure, and he can use this place to hide his maps. The maps were something he has been drawing, so he wouldn't get lost, and he had to hide them in all sorts of places so his father wouldn't find them just like with his treasure.

Unfortunately, he wasn't the only one using the lake as his base. The other person using this base is another boy about a year or so older than him, but he isn't here to explore the woods. No, he is here to stash all of his "prizes" that he "borrowed" from the other villagers here. Sometimes he would even have valuable gems from Kaal's mines stashed there, until there is someone who wants to buy it from him. He is a dirt boy with green skin and short, dark brown hair with fierce red pupils and yellow corneas. He's always seen wearing a scarlet tunic and poor, red boots. His name is Vlar and he's the infamous little thief in the village. No one is sure what happened to his parents, most likely abandon him after a bad harvest, but he mostly takes care of himself. None of the villagers wanted to take a little thief like Vlar as their own, seeing as they can hardly feed the mouths in their house let alone another one, but some have tried. Kiru is a notable one, Vlar only stayed in his hut for a week before running away. He hated the rules and morals Kiru tried to instill in him, so he ran away. After that, most of the villagers gave up on him and just ignored the thief. Eventually, he came across the lake and christened his new home for his thieving operations.

For the past month, Vlar has known, by spying from a tree, that old Mugician's kid has been using this place too. Sometimes he would find maps, clearly drawn by a kid's hand, in the burrows of the trees and other times he finds stupid plants or weird tree branches that the kid hidden. Now normally Vlar would sell whatever he "finds", but maps, clearly drawn by a kid, are worthless and so are the branches and plants to the average person. Vlar has tolerated with the kid, mostly because he was watching and tracking the kid's habits. The kid likes to stay here until he sees the sun rising, by that time most villagers will begin to wake up, and then he runs with all of his might back to the village. Probably back to daddy dearest, Vlar thought the kid was such a weakling. He was only "observing" the kid because he believes that the kid will bring something of value one day. The kid is a son of well-known Mugician, so he'll probably get some interesting, valuable Mugic from his dad one day. When that day comes, he'll just ambush the kid and steal right from his snotty, privileged neck….

It's been two months since Afjak has been going to his secret place in the woods with a lake, he still wants to name the lake something but doesn't quite know what. Not Lake Afjak, he knows. Maybe Lake Ken-i-Po after mother's name, Afjak thought. Thinking of his mother, Afjak knows little about her except that she was a Mugician like his father, er Master Najarin, and apparently that Afjak looks exactly like her. Whenever little Afjak would ask about his mother, his father, Master Najarin, would suddenly get solemn and withdrawn. She was one of those questions that his fath-Master Najarin would refuse to give an answer, not because he's embarrassed, like the time Afjak asked about how babies were made, but it was just too painful. Master Najarin had known her longer, much longer, than Afjak had so it would naturally make his Master depressed to think about her. The only time he is allowed to ask questions about her and receive answers, is when they visit her grave every year on her birthday. Even on that day, Afjak only asks a few questions because it was a day for his Master to remember her and possibly mourn her. It seemed rude just to ask a million questions about her on that special day, but there was one question that he kept asking every year even though he already knew the answer. It was about her tombstone and why there is a Mugic embedded in it.

The Mugic was something she was working on, before Afjak was born, it was supposed to do something spectacular but his Master wasn't sure what she meant by it. She never told him what it does, though it can only be used by an OverWorlder, so his Master thought the Mugic belonged with its Mugician. The Mugic is like all OverWorld Mugic, it is glassy-blue heptagon with special markings on it. The special markings distinguish its difference when it comes to use and summoning, but the markings have hearts with the letters "NKA" in the middle. The letters must be some sort of special code of something maybe how to activate it or what its restrictions are, Afjak thought. In another month, he and his Master will visit her grave again since it will be her birthday. He was so curious about the Mugic that he actually went to her grave and "borrowed" the Mugic so he could study it in the privacy of the lake. Maybe it had something to do with location; most OverWorlders love water, so maybe if I dipped in the lake something will happen. Afjak hypothesized.

He thought it would be a good idea to wear the Mugic like a necklace so he won't lose it if his pouch has a hole in it, he would have a good view of the Mugic and he'll know if it somehow falls off the string. To his dismay, later to Vlar's joy, he was wrong about wearing the Mugic as a necklace. It was in the third day of the second month that he decided to test his Mugic theory and wore the necklace to the lake; it was there that Vlar was hiding in the trees with a sharp stone in his hand, he was just waiting for Afjak to bring something valuable and to his delight Afjak brought Mugic. Mugic is possibly the best item to sell because it is powerful, most of the time, and very low in supply but high in demand. Creatures would give their limbs for it, even if it's from a different tribe, so they could say they have something that the vast majority didn't have. So when Afjak was only a few precious inches away from the entrance to the lake, he got ambushed by Vlar. Vlar was only someone that Afjak heard of from the villagers, but has never seen him until today. He thought Vlar was some horrible demon like the villagers said about him, but he saw that Vlar was kid like him. Well, a kid with a sharp stone pressed against Afjak's throat.

"Hey! Let me up, let me up!" It was stupid for Afjak that, and he knows it was stupid, but it was just a natural reaction to fight against some stranger holding him to the ground. Vlar presses the stone closer to his throat, this time he feels a sharp sting and knows that Vlar just made a small cut on his throat. It was clearly a warning to keep quiet and still.

"Move again and I'll slit your throat!" Afjak gives up fighting immediately, he doesn't want to die. He just wanted to go to the lake and test out his theory!

"W-What do you want?"Vlar's eyes lowered from Afjak's face to his necklace, he wants the necklace.

"Y-You can't have that!" Afjak protested. Vlar rolls his eyes and causes another small cut on Afjak's little blue neck.

"Don't tell me what I can or can't have! I take what I want, and I want that Mugic!" Vlar then cuts through the piece of string and gets the Mugic in his possession. Afjak cries out, but quickly stifles himself when Vlar puts the sharp stone to his neck again.

"Now tell me what does this Mugic do!" Vlar commanded. Afjak swallows his cries of protest down and shakily breathes in and out.

"I-I don't know, I swear! Y-You won't be able to use it, y-you're an UnderWorlder and only OverWorlders can use it." Vlar narrows his red orbs at him. What a dumb kid, I'm not an UnderWorlder! Vlar huffed inwardly.

"I'm not an UnderWorlder, stupid, I'm an OverWorlder like you….just an outcast unlike you, you stupid brat." Well, at least that answers one of Afjak's questions. Yet, that new piece of information won't get him out from under this crazy thief.

"I-I'm sorry, I was just going by w-what the villagers said about y-you." The villagers always the cause of Vlar's animosity towards them, if they think he is a demon then by the Cothica he'll act like one.

"Yeah, the villagers are just _brimming_ with wisdom….since this Mugic is useless, maybe I can just chuck it into the lake and watch it sink." Afjak lets out a gasp, if Vlar does that he'll never be able to recover the Mugic and his father will notice that the Mugic is missing from his mother's tombstone. Come on, Afjak, he's Master Najarin now, not father anymore! Afjak reprimanded himself for slipping up and using father instead of Master Najarin in his thoughts. Last week, Afjak began his official apprenticeship to be a Mugician like his father. He wasn't allowed to call him "father" anymore; it was now "Master Najarin" since he was his apprentice now.

"P-Please don't, it may have no monetary worth but it means everything to me!" Afjak beseeched. Vlar grins sinisterly at Afjak. This kid will do ANYTHING to get this back; I can use an extra pair of hands when it comes to raiding Kaal's mines, Vlar thought maliciously.

"You know, kid, you're right….it would be a waste to throw this 'trinket' into the lake, maybe if you do me a favor or two then _maybe_ I'll give you back your Mugic." Afjak lights up quickly at this. He could get it back, he could get it back! He won't be in trouble with his Master now!

"R-Really, w-what would I have to do though?" Please, don't let it be something about murdering Kaal. Afjak pleaded inwardly.

"Do whatever I say until I tell you to stop." That sounded simple enough; eventually he'll give me back the Mugic, hopefully before her birthday comes around.

"O-Okay, I'll do whatever you say as long as you give me back my Mugic within a month." Vlar's grin widens. It's almost cute that a stupid kid like that would believe I would agree to that.

"Sure, kid, I'll do that. Meet me here again after your 'daddy' does to sleep." He's Master Najarin to you; Afjak wanted to say but kept his mouth shut. Well it would only last a month, so how bad can working for Vlar possibly be?

*  
>Only a week until Afjak has to visit his mother's grave, only a week until his Master finds out the truth that, and he still hasn't got the Mugic back. He's spent almost every night this month on Vlar's escapades to Kaal's mines just to get some of that lava monster's precious jewels. On other nights, Vlar gets him to carry the food that Vlar steals from the villagers. Stealing from a monster like Kaal is not so bad, but stealing from his fellow Tribesmates is horrible! Farming was most of the villagers is their livelihood, a bushel of gheat (much like Earth's wheat except that it can be used as a substitute for fruits and medicine) could mean starvation in the winter or feeding their families. Every time Afjak hears about how a fellow Tribesmate lost some of their crop, Afjak feels sick with guilt and worry that he'll be caught. Vlar would laugh at him and call him stupid like usual, and then they would go on another "quest" for more jewels or food. If he would just ask Kiru or maybe even Master Najarin then he won't have to continue stealing food from the villagers! Afjak huffed inwardly.<p>

Even though the deadline for the Mugic was drawing ever nearer, Vlar just kept Afjak busy with their thieving expeditions. Between being Master Najarin's apprentice and Vlar's slave, Afjak didn't have much time to sleep and sometimes eat. He had to skip breakfast so he can have at least a few minutes of sleep, if it wasn't for his mother's birthday coming up, his father would have notice that there was something wrong with his son. Whenever his mother's birthday draws near, fath-Master Najarin tends to think about her a lot and becomes a bit distracted. The pro about that is that he doesn't have to worry about Master Najarin asking questions why he was so tired, but the con is that he still has to continue his nightly excursions with Vlar until Vlar says so. Another good thing is that with Afjak spending so much time with Vlar, Afjak grows less afraid of him and just more wary of him. Vlar is an immature, prideful, independent, vain, selfish, merciless, shameless, and rash thief but has no parents to take care of him, which must be why he steals food so much, and he still has the Mugic. Afjak has had about enough of this! He barely gets an hour of sleep a night and he has to run himself ragged with Vlar at night and with Master Najarin during the day! Afjak has decided that tonight he's going to tell Vlar his mind and demand for the Mugic back, he's already proven his worth ten times over for Vlar. It's high time that Afjak gets some compensation for his pain.

"Vlar, you thieving Taskmaster, I want to talk to you NOW!" Vlar nearly drops out of the tree when he hears Afjak, surprisingly, yelling at him. The stupid kid can actually get angry, what a shock! Vlar thought sarcastically.

"What crawled up your ear and bit you, the monthly fairy?" Vlar remarked sharply. Afjak glares up at him and punches at the tree where Vlar was up on.

"YOU did that's what, I have been slaving away for you and I still haven't got my Mugic back! I have crawled into those teeny, tiny crevices that you can't fit through, so I can get some jewel that is buried there. I have to hear about how family is on the point of starving because _we_ stole from their harvest! I have to go and lie to my fath- ,oh forget it, my father that I have the energy to work when in fact I'm about to pass out any minute! It's all because of YOU" Afjak raved. He has never been so furious in his life, not even when some charlatan claimed that his father was a fake.

"Give me back my Mugic; I earned it and then some!" Afjak demanded. It was cute for about a minute when the kid was being angry, but now it was just downright annoying to Vlar.

"Why is this thing so important to you, you don't even know what it does! It's just a useless piece of Mugic! You only want it back because DADDY will be furious if he finds it gone, you're worried that your DADDY won't love you anymore just because you don't have that Mugic. You're-" Vlar was then cut off by a series of loud banging sounds by Afjak, his little blue fists were almost purple from beating the tree so much.

"That Mugic is the only thing I have left of my mother! It was the last thing she ever created before she died; she left some clues behind so I can solve them! The Mugic is the only thing I can remember of her!" Afjak emphasized his point by beating against the tree after every complete sentence. He looks at his hands and sees that they're purple and red from the bruises and blood on them. His anger seems to have vanished after that last tirade; he was now sad and filled with regret. He lowers himself on the ground and begins to weep in the dirt; he doesn't want Vlar to see that he is crying. Vlar looks down at the crying blue boy, he bites his lip like he's trying to stop himself form doing something but instead he lets out a sigh.

"I had a mother once, yeah, I didn't come from the pits of the UnderWorld like the villagers said. She was very sweet and the best mother any boy could ask for….I have nothing left of her now, she's dead and I'll never see her again. I know what that's like." Afjak feels something collide with his head, at first he thought Vlar threw some sort of seed pod at him, but then he looks down and sees that it is his mother's Mugic! He quickly grabs it and jumps in joy, he is so happy to have it back and not a moment too soon!

"Thanks Vlar, you're the best! Oh, thank you, thank you so much! I thought I would never see it again!" Afjak chattered ecstatically. Vlar rolls his eyes and leaps from the tree branch he was sitting on, he lands right next to Afjak.

"Yeah, yeah don't get so 'emotional' on me now and don't tell anyone I did this for you. I don't want anyone to go thinking that I have a conscious or something…You know I'll share _**my**_ lake with you so long as you bring me food each time you come here." Vlar declared. Afjak grabs hold of him and Vlar was about to punch him for that until Afjak kisses him on the cheek and smiles goofily at him.

"You're the best, Vlar, don't worry I'll bring some sweets or maybe even some meat for you! You're my best friend after all!" Afjak runs off to the village and leaves behind a stun Vlar. Vlar rubs the cheek where Afjak kissed him on and blushes a bit, but then spits on the ground in disgust.

"I got kissed by that stupid kid…I was supposed to be the one that made the first move, not him!" Vlar grumbled to himself.


End file.
